More than 2,000 brand-new student accommodations are sitting empty in Melbourne's CBD with no indications they'll be used to help quarantine international students.
More than 2,000 brand-new student accommodations are sitting empty in Melbourne's CBD with no indications they'll be used to help quarantine international students. The concept has been spearheaded by New South Wales, but industry leaders say they're disappointed it's not being pursued in Victoria.
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International student rooms in Victoria left empty | Sky News AustraliaMore than 2,000 brand new student rooms are sitting empty in Melbourne’s CBD and there is no indication they will be used to quarantine international students.\n\nThe concept has been spearheaded by New South Wales but industry leaders say they are disappointed it is not being pursued in Victoria. \n\nAustralia’s largest student accommodation provider Scape was supposed to open its brand-new Carlton facility in February.\n\nThe company offered its rooms to the Victorian government last year to help quarantine international students or even returning Australians but the idea did not receive traction.\n\nThe Victorian government instead wants to quarantine international students in an approved COVID hotel and the acting premier has asked the Commonwealth’s approval to bring students back under a weekly economic cohort. \n
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UniLodge offers up student accommodation to quarantine international students | Sky News AustraliaUniLodge CEO Tomas Johnsson says student accommodation could function in a similar way to hotel quarantine if the organisation is selected to participate in New South wales’ efforts to bring over international students. \n\nThis comes after NSW Police and health officials signed off on a proposal which would see international students quarantine for two weeks at the cost of the university sector without the support of the Commonwealth. \n\n“The proposal is not ours specifically, it’s the NSW government’s, so they are the ones that are managing the process,” Mr Johnsson said. \n\n“If indeed we were to be part of it … we’d be very similar to the hotel quarantine program.\n\n“I think the difference between hotels in general and student accommodation is the fact that … we are used to having cohorts living in our buildings for a long period of time.\n\n“So we have pastoral care for example that is unique to our industry.\n\n“In our organisation, with UniLodge, we have dedicated health apps with geofencing around buildings, so we can have much tighter control of the cohorts in our buildings”. \n
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Australia's ‘challenge’ going forward is preparing to reopen international borders | Sky News AustraliaAustralian Medical Association President Dr Omar Khorshid says the “biggest challenge” for Australia going forward is getting the health system and the country ready for the reopening of international borders. \n\n“I think the biggest challenge going forward is how we get Australia ready for opening our borders,” he said. \n\n“And that’s remembering we have a public hospital system right now that is bursting at the seams, it is overrun with really sick Australians who can’t get in the front door, they’re ramped in ambulances outside hospitals.\n\n“This is in the setting of no flu, we have record low numbers of flu patients, there’s no COVID.\n\n“Once we open those borders both those viruses will be coming into Australia and even with a vaccinated population, we have to be ready. \n\n“And that’s certainly going to be the AMA’s focus on advocacy with the government following this budget”. \n\nDr Khorshid told Sky News the AMA would also like to see some “specific funding” for Commonwealth-run quarantine facilities to help put an end to the “disruptive” outbreaks which occur every few weeks.
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Australia 'left behind' despite national investment into digital economy | Sky News AustraliaDespite the government's announcement of a $1.2 billion investment as part of its Digital Economy Strategy, Australia is still 'behind' neighbouring countries who already invest more into AI than we do, according to Labor MP Ed Husic.\n\n'In respect to artificial intelligence a lot of countries have invested and announced major investments in this space because ... there's either a $15 trillion or $22 trillion economic uptick from this,' he told Sky News.\n\n'The bulk of this is going to accrue to two nations - USA and China - and so we've been left behind. \n\n'Because despite what was announced today, we still have neighbours in our region that are spending more than us on national investments in AI.\n\n'So there is potential there to get it right - it's an important economic and national security imperative to get this right - but this is a government that's big on announcement and always stuffs up on delivery.'
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‘Forget Australia’: Britain snaps up stranded international studentsShaiz Javaid felt abandoned by Australia when borders closed. He is among thousands making up a record surge of university enrolments in Britain.
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